A Treasured Find: Dior Tendre Poison

When I visited my parents over Easter, I did some scouting around for perfumes for a future post. There are many nooks and crannies in their house and the bathrooms in particular are a veritable treasure trove. I was mostly looking for perfumes belonging to my Mum and Grandma but I happened upon this bottle of Dior Tendre Poison which I very much remember being mine...no matter what my Mum claims!

I did a little research and apparently Tendre Posion was created in 1994. So I was right in my recollection that this bottle dates from around the time I went off to University. It's moved around a bit since then (and evidently changed owners!) but thanks to the fact that it's been kept in the box and out of direct sunlight, this perfume smells exactly as I remember it. I really can't describe the fragrance and do it any justice: it's an unusual blend of sweet, floral and zesty and it works really well with my skin chemistry. It is a strong scent but I don't find it over-powering and headache inducing which unfortunately my Mum does. Obviously, you can see why I had to rescue it.

Whilst the scent does evoke fond memories, I don't think of it as particularly dated and I was sad to see that it has been discontinued. I know I'm going to be caught between wanting to wear it all the time and trying to conserve it. I will make a point of trying some of the newer Dior Poison spin offs to see if I can find a suitable replacement.

Illamasqua Naked Strangers Collection

I first heard about this mini Spring/Summer collection through my subscription to the Illamasqua e-newsletters, as they were offering customers an early shopping preview of the three nail colours. Oddly, this grabbed my attention more than the usual press and blog build up. I like that Illamasqua want to engage with their customers not just schmooze bloggers and if it hadn't been for my nail polish ban, I would have bought Monogamous (flesh pink) and Faithful (metallic copper) there and then.

The collection will be available nationwide from 31st May and as well as the three nail polish colours, they are releasing two lipglosses and two blushers. Both of the blusher looks like quite neutral shades: Naked Rose is described as a neutral beige brown and the cream blusher, Zygomatic, is a naked pink brown. The lipgloss are one of each formula; Stranger is a platinum gold in the intense formula and Intimacy is a sheer nude pink brown.

Although I like the sound of Intimacy (ho, ho!), I know I rarely wear lipgloss so I should be sensible and pass on this. I am however quite tempted to get one of the blushers. I get a lot of use out of nude-y pink blushers, the only tricky decision is powder or cream? Are you planning on picking anything up on Thursday?

Omorovicza Balancing Moisturiser and the Radiance Renewal Serum

The name Omorovicza has been popping up on radar quite a lot recently. My perception of the brand was of luxurious skincare without any of the ridiculous claims that seem so popular these days. If you promise me more radiant, supple skin without suggesting I'm going to look 10 years younger or that I'm applying botox in a jar, I'm a happy lady. So, when approached, I was very keen to see how the brand would match up to my expectations.

The products I was sent to try are the Radiance Renewal Serum and Balancing Moisturiser. As you can see, there has been much attention to detail in the presentation and packaging. I like that both the serum and moisturiser come with a pump dispenser. In the case of the moisturiser, I find it best to depress the pump slowly to dispense the exact amount that I require, as a full pump is more than I need for both my face and neck. Although I have been using these products for a month, I've still got plenty left as you can see in the pictures. They are expensive items and probably more than I would normally spend on skincare, but it's clear that they will last a good while.

The serum has a nice fluid-gel consistency and is easy to spread. I find it sinks into my skin without leaving a film. The Balancing Moisturiser has a really light texture and I find it very hydrating. It's a little thicker than a lotion and feels really fresh and cooling when applied. Both of the products have a fresh 'cologne' like scent which I enjoy.

I discovered that the serum and moisturiser have very compatible textures and I will confess to pumping them both out together and mixing them between my fingers in order to apply in a single step. I find that the combination of the serum and moisturiser have left my skin hydrated and more 'fresh' looking which is impressive considering how tired I really am. For best effect, I think I probably need to use these in combination with a good anti-ageing night cream, as I felt my fine lines became more noticeable.

The Balancing Moisturiser is designed to hydrate the skin without leaving a shiny T-zone. My skin has been getting a little shiny on the chin and forehead by mid-afternoon. However, it's really hard to say if the moisturiser is at fault or if the combination of using a separate sunscreen plus the heat of the last couple of weeks is the real culprit. I suspect in Autumn/Winter I would be less likely to experience such breakthrough.

Radiance Renewal Serum

Balancing Moisturiser

I've included the ingredients list for both products for completeness. Omorovicza use Hungarian Thermal Water as a key ingredient in all of their products. You can read more about the idea behind using minerals in skincare here. As an aside, if you're interested in the power of thermal water you might enjoy reading Musing About Beauty's guest post about the benefits of Avene Thermal Water.

The Ormorovizca Balancing Moisturiser costs £74 for 50ml and the Radiance Serum costs £68 for 30ml. The products are available direct from the Ormorovicza website, as well as Cult Beauty and Liberty in the UK.

Disclosure: These products were sent to me without charge for review consideration.

Sunny (work) FOTD

This is the makeup I wore on Friday. Although the eyes are still quite neutral, I added a little summery colour with the coral pink cheeks and lips. I haven't worn the Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia for a while but I thought it compliment the blusher from the Kevyn Aucoin 'The Corals' palette that I posted about recently. I'm pleased with how RBR Bejewelled Skylark turned out when used as a liner too.

Face
Hourglass Primer
Max Factor Second Skin Foundation*
Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer* - on undereyes and around the nose
Shu Uemura Brow Pencil
Cheek colour from the Kevyn Aucoin Lip & Cheek Palette*

Lips
Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
RBR Long-lasting Cream Eyeshadow in Atlas Swallowtail* as a base
Chantecaille Shine eyeshadow in Bois on the mobile lid
RBR Bejewelled Skylark used as an eyeliner
Lancome Hypnose Drama in Gris Fatale*

* PR Samples

Beauty Spotlight 26/05/12

Revlon's new Summer 2012 Escapism Collection catches Pammy Blogs Beauty's eye this week. Check out what she got from the collection in her recent Revlon Drugstore Haul.

Forget matching your shoes with your purse, as Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed has discovered it's now all about matching your lips with your cheeks thanks to Benefit's Ultra Plush Gloss! Check out her swatches and see if they have you feeling all matchy-matchy!

Modesty Brown gets a pleasant surprise swatching Rouge Bunny Rouge Umber Firefinch eyeshadow. If you were put off by the description, this is definitely worth a second look.

The Pink Sith imagines herself in an infomercial when she reviews the Natura Bisse NB Ceuticals Eye Recovery Balm.

A product that promises to provide a moisturiser, foundation, sunscreen, concealer and anti-aging cream all-in-one, Visionary Beauty reviews the Omorovicza Complexion Perfector BB SPF 20 to see if it delivers.

Who doesn't need an outstanding concealer? The ladies of Beauty Info Zone certainly do so they appreciate Tarte's Maracuja Creaseless Waterproof Concealer and think you will too.

Perilously Pale brings us the beautiful limited edition collection of four new Eyes to Kill Intense eye shadows from the Armani Beauty Summer Collection.

Prime Beauty takes to the beach and discovers Hourglass Cosmetics Visionaire Eye Shadow Duo in Dune.

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic learns how to add volume to her braid without teasing her hair!

London MakeUp Girl reviews La Bella Figura Decouverte Eye serum, an all natural oil-based serum that works on fine lines, dark circles and puffiness.

Did you miss the original KardashianKolors collection from Nicole by OPI the first time around? Jessika from polish insomniac shows us how to score the best colors in the new Pretty Petites collections!

At Everyday Beauty, Zuzu*s Petals marveled on the wonders of red lipstick.

Paula, from Older Girl Beauty is excited to announce that she is an Ambassador for RoC Skincare. Find out who else was chose for this year, too.

Kevyn Aucoin The Lip & Cheek Palette

With the sunny weather we've been having recently, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this Kevyn Aucoin palette. I first tried the Lip and Cheek Palette in 'the corals' a couple of months back and it wasn't instant love. From experience, I know it's always worth giving things a second try and I'm pleased I didn't write this palette off.

The palettes contain (from left to right) three lip glosses, a cream blusher and a lip colour. The glosses all have a nice texture, they don't feel especially sticky and have a sweet, vanilla scent. The blusher is quite a thin cream texture and acts almost like a stain. It reminds me a little of the effect I get with the Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain. It's a pinky coral colour and for me, best suited for Spring/Summer wear.

The lip colour is the item I didn't get on with first time around. My mistake was to apply it with a lip brush and this produced a finished that I didn't like. Today, I was very cautious and applied a really thin layer with my finger. I built up the colour in layers like this, patting it on and I was much happier with the effect. Topped off with one of the glosses, it looks and feels very nice and gives good wear time.

Swatches in the order as the palette

Although I'm not the biggest fan of lip products in palettes, I think this would be a nice item to take away on holiday as the colours are really summery and it would be convenient for adding a little colour on the go. Probably best to avoid getting sand in it, of course!

There are a couple of negatives which I want to mention. Aesthetically, I don't think it looks as sleek as other items from the line. It's black all over rather than the usual two-tone red and black packaging plus it has a rather cheap looking gold fastening. I realise this all sounds a bit nit-picky but this brings me onto my other point. I feel the palette is quite expensive for what it is. None of the pans, apart from the cream blusher, are particularly big and with regular use, they would be used up quite quickly. Usually palettes offer a better deal than buying the items separately, so I think a price around £30 might be more enticing.

The Lip & Cheek palette comes in three colour ways: the corals, the pinks and the mauves and are available from Mise Beauty. The palettes cost £42 each.

Disclosure: This item was sent to me without cost for review purposes.

Recommended Viewing: The Bridge

I discovered Scandinavian crime drama, The Bridge on BBC Four, just as the last episode was airing and summarily spent last Saturday night and all of Sunday watching the series on iPlayer. It only has a couple of days left on iPlayer, so if you think it might enjoy it, get to it!

I don't really watch much on television these days. Twitter has drawn me into a few of the reality TV programmes, but on the whole I like to watch well made drama and not much else. I rather like that BBC Four provides access to excellent European drama as homegrown drama seems a bit thin on the ground. Anyway, with that sly dig over and done with, let's talk about The Bridge.

The Bridge is a Scandinavian made detective series and opens with the discovery of a dead body in the middle of the Oresund bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark. It's the first in the series of murders committed by a perp seemingly intent on raising social and political awareness. The investigation unites Swedish detective Saga Noren and Danish Martin Rohde, and for me it's the excellent character development and awkward friendship that develops between the two detectives that was a engaging as the plot itself.

In the early episodes, there are several of sub-plots which run alongside the main thread. I wasn't sure whether these would eventually be connected to the main plot or simply run as parallel stories in a similar way to French series Spiral/Engrenages. I have to admit that I was pleased when they were neatly tied to the main plot over the course of the ten episodes, as I generally find sub-plots tedious.

Another aspect of this series that I found interesting was the introduction of a character with quite obvious Asperger's traits. I realise this isn't necessarily new and there were many hints that Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium Trilogy similarly had Asperger's Syndrome, but Lisbeth Salander was a really hard character to warm to. I found Saga Noren much more endearing. Predictably, her lack of social mores were used as good excuse to add a bit of 'the sex'!

I really enjoyed The Bridge and would heartily recommend it. I won't say much about the ending other than to say that it was gripping and had the sort of tempered happy ending that I approve of. I think that if you enjoy crime dramas, excellent production and don't object to sub-titles, this is a must-see.

Image credit: BBC website

Clinique Chubby Stick Lip Colour Balms

Clinique are releasing 8 new shades of the Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balms to their existing line up next month. The shade I have here is Heaping Hazelnut which is a nice sheer, beige nude.

As you would probably expect from a something called a Lip Colour Balm, the finish is glossy and it feels really comfortable and moisturising on the lips. The moistuising ingredients in the sticks are Shea Butter, Mango Seed Butter and Jojoba Seed Oil.

The coverage isn't completely sheer and it does apply as a colour rather than a transparent gloss. For me the sheer finish makes this nude really wearable: very opaque or milky beige nudes aren't something I like to wear, so I like that some of my lip colour is still visible. I rather like the chunky pencil packaging, though of course there are others in my household with designs on it too!

The other colours that will be released next month are Bountiful Blush, Two Ton Tomato, Oversized Orange, Curvy Candy, Mighty Mimosa, Pudgy Peony and Voluptuous Violet. So, plenty of alliteration if you like that sort of thing. I'm looking forward to seeing Mighty Mimosa and Pudgy Peony in person and can see myself picking up at least one of them.

The Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balms cost £16 each and the new colours will be available from 1st June.


Disclosure: PR Sample

Rouge Bunny Rouge Umber Firefinch

I was very kindly offered Rouge Bunny Rouge Umber Firefinch by someone who found the colour wasn't working for them. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to get around my eyeshadow ban again and duly arranged a little product swap. I had been really intrigued by this shade when I first read about the new colours but I found it the hardest to judge based on the online images and description.

Now that I have seen Umber Firefinch in person, I would say that the image is accurate but the description isn't quite fitting. Rouge Bunny Rouge describe it as 'iridescent dark umber chocolate'. The use of the word iridescent threw me as I was expecting something more shimmery based on my experience of the other RBR iridescent eyeshadows. Instead, I would say this has satin finish. In fact, I find the finish is similar to Solstice Halcyon in that it has very fine iridescent flecks which stop it from being a flat matte. 

Chocolate is another misnomer in my opinion. Chocolate conjures a warm brown for me but Umber Firefinch is a cool, ash toned brown. I'm not the only one to be confused by the description as the person that I swapped with was anticipating a warmer brown and found this turned grey on her warm toned skin. I hesitated over this colour because it sounded too warm but in fact, it is a perfect colour for me.

Here is Umber Firefinch compared to a few other Rouge Bunny Rouge colours for reference. Hopefully you can see from my pictures that it is lighter than Blackpepper Jay but still in the same colour family. I also hope you can see that it doesn't have the same shimmery finish as Bohemian Waxwing, which I believe is also one of the iridescent shades.

When I initially pulled out eyeshadows for comparison, I forgot to include Bejewelled Skylark, another of the RBR browns. Bejewelled Skylark contains much more red than Umber Firefinch. It also has a very different multi-tonal iridescent finish. The other eyeshadow included in the swatches below is Kjaer Weiss Wisdom.

The Eyeshadow Keeper Refills cost £16 and are available from Zuneta. I'm pleased to see that all the colours are back in stock, as well as both sizes of Eyeshadow Keeper palettes.

Brown Pencil Liner Comparison

Along with my interest in taupe eyeshadows and MLBB lipsticks, I seem to have a fairly healthy collection of brown pencil liners. I've never swatched them all side by side, probably for fear of spotting dupes. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be too much overlap but I'm sure I could probably get away with two or three, rather than five.

The pencils that I have are: MAC Teddy Eye Kohl, Rouge Bunny Rouge Lola Long-lasting Eye Pencil, BECCA Goa Automatic Eye Liner*, GOSH Truly Brown Velvet Touch Eyeliner and Ben Nye Espresso Eye Liner Pencil.

I have mixed feelings about the automatic pencil liners. The formulas are very long lasting, the RBR Lola swatch in particular lasted more than 24 hours on my arm, but it can be tricky to apply a thin line with this type of pencil. The BECCA liner comes with a little sharpener but the RBR does not.

Both the Ben Nye and MAC pencils do not set particular and it's easy to smudge them if you prefer a diffuse line. Although I like the dark colour of the Ben Nye Espresso, I do find it will migrate around the outer corners of my eye as the day wears on. I tend to favour waterproof formulas for this reason. The BECCA, RBR and GOSH pencils all set quite quickly once they are applied. There is a very (very) small window of time in which you can smudge the RBR and BECCA pencils, you have a little more time with the GOSH formula.

Truly Brown and Espresso are both dark browns with no shimmer. I would say that Espresso is the darkest and most cool toned of all my brown pencils. Goa is the lightest, it does have some bronze shimmer that isn't obvious in this swatch but you can see it in my previous review here.

Teddy and Lola are the most similar of all these pencils, both are rich chocolatey browns packed with bronze shimmer. In terms of colour, I think I prefer Lola but I find the MAC pencil a bit easier to apply. It's why I have wondered if I might get on better with Lola in the Eye Kohl formula but I'm pretty sure a girl can have too many brown pencils. I might invest if and when I finish one of the pencils I already have.

Do you have a favourite brown liner? Are you a fan of pencils or do you prefer gel liners for longevity?

* PR Sample

Check Out Marcia's Cans!

It's time for Marcia from Beauty Info Zone to share what's in her ??? She's chosen her can or maybe we should say CANS! How could she possibly need a dozen cans? I think we need to click on the image below to find out.

My Week in Makeup

I woke up this morning, rejoiced because I have a day off and then duly set my mind to what to write today. Unfortunately, my mind was a total blank. This isn't especially unusual for me as I'm not really a morning person and my mind has been similarly blank as I've been getting ready each day this week. Makeup wise, I've relied on tried and tested items that I know will make me look human and prevent me from frightening the already anxious students.

Foundation - I used Max Factor Second Skin foundation* this week. It offers a bit more coverage than my usual Rouge Bunny Rouge tinted moisturiser but it's still quite a light foundation.

Concealers - BECCA Compact Concealer* in praline on blemishes and redness. YSL Touche Eclat* on the undereye area.

Cheek Products - NARS Laguna bronzer, BECCA Turkish Rose, Rouge Bunny Rouge Delicata and Laura Mercier in Petal Pink. I used various combinations of these depending on how drained I looked. My favourite combination at the moment is Delicata all over the cheek area with a tiny sweep of the Laura Mercier on the apples.

Brown Liners - I've used both the GOSH Truly Brown and Ben Nye liner in Espresso this week. I prefer the GOSH, I have to admit, as it is easier to apply and lasts longer without smudging.

Eyeshadows - I'm sure you won't be surprised by this taupe fest! I used Solstice Halcyon, Gracious Arasari, the mid brown from Guerlain Les Bois de Rose and various colours from Les Fumes. I also used the highlighter from the Dior Smoky Nude palette on a couple of occasions.

Yesterday I went for a bit of a smoky eye layering the darker colours from Les Fumes over MAC Dirty Greasepaint stick at the lash line then blending out using the pinky tan shade. I was really pleased with the end result and it still felt work appropriate.

Shu Uemura H9 Seal Brown brow pencil and Too Faced Shadow Insurance are both daily staples.

Mascara - No.7 Lash Adapt mascara*. I rather like this for everyday but the formula is a little on the dry side so I think that there's a limit to the number of layers you can apply.

Lipsticks - I wore Rouge Bunny Rouge Murmurings and Ilia Arabian Knights interchangeably almost everyday. Arabian Knights stays at home and whilst Murmurings lives in my handbag. I wore my old favourite Rouge Bunny Rouge Irreverence with the smoky eye yesterday.

Hopefully next week I can get myself organised and pack a makeup bag that I can grab for the early morning starts. I'm hoping to fit Edward Bess Dusk and Olive Violeteare in there for some more work appropriate smoky eyes.

Do you have a selection of products that you know won't let you down? Are you quite adventurous with your makeup at work or do you favour neutrals day-to-day?

* Items labelled with an asterisk were received as PR samples. 

On the Lust List

It's been ages since I shared a wishlist type post. I try hard to be sensible about my cosmetic lusts these days, I know that many are just passing fancies so I will try to wait and see if the urge passes. My eyeshadow and nail polish ban have helped a lot in that sense. Eyeshadows are quite clearly my biggest cosmetic weakness.

It's impossible to be sensible all the time though, I still have a wishlist a mile long and these are a few of the items that keep making their way back to the top.

Source

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted
I'm not sure exactly when my interest in Just Skin started but it was cemented when I read Get Lippie's recent thoughts. I'm coming towards the end of my RBR Tinted Moisturiser and I think this might make a good replacement. The only sticking point is the price, at £55 for a tube it isn't cheap. I'll have to be in the right mood to cave on this one.

Le Metier de Beaute Creme Fresh Tint Blusher in Poppy
I promised myself I would get one of the Creme Fresh Tints when Le Metier returned to the UK. Although I initially considered Tenne, I decided that Poppy would probably be a better colour choice for me. It seems to be very popular shade and I keep missing it when Zuneta re-stock.

Source

Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Colours and Perfect Rouge Lipstick
I've never tried any Shiseido cosmetics but I go through regular phases of researching colours and filling a virtual basket. I first spotted the cream eye colours on Reigning Beauties and they have been popping up on my radar ever since. Lipglossiping recent Shiseido post set me off again. As an aside, I couldn't find the Accentuating Color Stick anywhere online so I'm assuming it's counter only. I will definitely try one of the Shimmering Cream Eye Colours once my ban is over but I can't decide whether to purchase the Perfect Rouge lipstick in Titian before then or wait. My less sensible side says buy it NOW!

Hera Sun Mate Daily
This is a fairly recent fancy and my interest in this Korean sunscreen was sparked by a YouTube video by meejmuse. I can't deny that being hard to get hold of makes it somehow that much more appealing. I found it on Ebay but at just over the £15 customs threshold and I'm nervous of getting stung with the dreaded Post Office fees. I need to do more research to find out if it's worth the risk.

Source

Sunday Riley Eyeshadow in Burnt Eggplant
Sunday Riley eyeshadows keep popping up in blog posts by my favourite American bloggers. Burnt Eggplant looks nothing like a burnt aubergine but it does sound like my kind of colour, *cough* taupe *cough*. When Marcia from Beauty Info Zone compared it to Style Snob and Satin Taupe I knew that it needed to go on my list. I'm nothing if not predictable!
 
Chanel Loose Powder in Pêche
This is another old interest that keeps on cropping up. I will admit to being rubbish when it comes to powdering my face. I prefer my skin to look natural and powder often makes me feel too made up. I also worry that it will accentuate my lines. However, I would like to give my makeup more staying power, especially as I can't touch up at work and I wonder if powder in the key. In my mind this one will work magic, particular because the shade I really want (#50 Pêche) has been discontinued!


What's on your wishlist at the moment? Are you torturing yourself with thoughts of hard to get items?

Aaah...Kneipp!

I have been patiently bidding my time for the children to go to sleep tonight so I can enjoy a bit of 'me' time. A combination of pains as I get used to running, walking to work and standing up for a several hours at a time during exams has left my body very sore. There's only one thing I can focus on at the moment and that is getting into a hot bath for a soak. I'm taking this little bundle up with me.

The Pure Bliss range is designed to create a sense of well-being and relaxation using essential oils. My first experience of the Kneipp Pure Bliss Mineral Bath Salts was after my inaugural Couch to 5K run. I knew my knees and hips would hurt afterwards and the salt bath really helped the aches as well as helping me relax. I also feel that it prevented me from feeling as stiff the next day and I'm hoping it will do the same for me this evening.

There is an extra special bonus about the bath salts that I discovered the first time I used them. The salts turn the water poppy red. I realise I sound like a five year old now but jumping into bright red bath water is a lot of fun!

Back to the serious stuff. Kneipp bath products contain no parabens, paraffin, silicone or mineral oils. Not that I have one but the bath salts are also Whirlpool friendly. You will need to give the bath a quick rinse out after using the bath salts but I found the residual salts did rinse away very easily.

As well as the Mineral Bath Salts, I have been using the Pure Bliss shower gel for several weeks now. I really enjoy the scent: it's feminine without being overpowering and doesn't clash with other products that I use. It has a gentle lather and I find it leaves my skin clean without striping.

Right, I am off to run my bath and marvel at the red water whilst soaking my weary bones. I might even take a medicinal glass of wine with me! Kneipp products are available from www.victoriahealth.com, www.beautynaturals.com and other independent chemists. The Pure Bliss shower gel costs £4.45 and the Mineral Bath Salt costs £1.95 for a 60g sachet or £7.95 for a 500g jar.


Disclosure: PR Sample

Ilia Beauty Lipstick in Crimson and Clover

Crimson and Clover was one of the new Ilia lipstick colours released recently. I believe this particularly colour might be limited edition but it is still available on the Content Beauty website where I purchased from.

Top - Crimson and Clover, Bottom - Arabian Knights

Crimson and Clover is more opaque and pigmented than Blossom Lady or Arabian Knight but it still has that lovely comfortable balm feeling that I really like about the Ilia lipsticks. It's an usual to find such a vibrant colour that isn't drying, and boy is this vibrant!

I find the colour a little tricky to describe. It is a bright crimson red that and I feel it leans slightly orange when applied. As the glossy colour fades, it leaves a stain on the lips but the stain is quite different to the original colour. The stain is bright pink rather than red, which makes me doubt the orange leaning. I like the colour it leaves me with and it is much better than sporting the 'ring of doom' but I suppose it does dictate caution in your choice of pairings.

I hope you will forgive me for including a full face picture rather than a lip close up. I think it probably gives better impression of the colour but I really wish I'd had the foresight to finish the rest of my makeup before taking the picture!

Ilia Crimon and Clover Lip Conditioner is available from Content Beauty and costs £20.

The Weekend Catch-up including Beauty Spotlight

It's been a bit of a bad week at MB HQ. We had an abrupt end to the relaxing long weekend when Mr MB had a bump in his car on Tuesday morning. No one was hurt but the car took the brunt of it. Our insurance company are dithering over a decision and consequently we're totally without transport. I have a feeling that new car hunting is on the cards.

Exam season starts next week so I will be doing my annual switch from stay at home mum to busy exam invigilator. I always get a little nervous in the lead up but I have been trying hard to ignore the nerves and enjoy my last moments of freedom. One of my favourite methods of relaxing is plotting makeup purchases (it beats shopping for cars) and I've had plenty of inspiration from the Beauty Spotlight team this week!

The colours Trumpeter Koel and Lilac Reef Currasow used in this visual were reviewed by Visionary Beauty this week.

Are you a beauty sample junkie? Enter to win a Total Beauty Collection beauty sample box at Pammy Blogs Beauty!

Pink Sith’s tiny brain convinced her to get ANOTHER bronzer! At least it knew well enough to make it CHANEL!

Afraid of color? Prime Beauty helps ease you from black and white into Technicolor with six new pastel eye shadows shades from Make Up For Ever with tips on how to wear them!

Marcia from Beauty Info Zone is at it again trying to tempt you with her Sunday Riley eyeshadow posts. Will she sway you this time?

Looking for an effortless cool smoky eye look..look no further than the new eye shadows from Rouge Bunny Rouge, Visionary Beauty shows us the shades in Trumpeter Koel and Lilac Reef Curassow

Modesty Brown decides that depotting those neglected single eyeshadows is the way forward. Ever considered depotting your Rouge Bunny Rouge collection? Read this before putting knife to pan!

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed is bitten by the Giorgio Armani Rouge D’Armani Sheers bug - check out her swatch and see if you think it might be contagious!

Perilously Pale finally finds out what all the buzz is about with the Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadows from their Summer 2012 collection when she reviews Madra Perla. Now she can't wait for the rest of her Armani summer goodies to arrive!

At Everyday Beauty, Zuzu*s Petals felt a new wave of frustration over print ads, not because extremely young models were advertising anti-aging products but because over-40 models now look like they are under 30. What do you think about this new trend?

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic takes a closer look at deep cleansing brushes. What are the differences amongst the Clarisonic, Olay, Neutrogena and Proactiv products?

London Makeup Girl is celebrating Spring with a...grey nail polish. Well, it has been raining in London for the last month or so! Have a look at RGB Cosmetics nail polish in Dove.

Shannon at Lipstick Musings has fallen for the glimmer and gleam of YSL's new Dessin du Regard Waterproof Eyeliner in Luminescent Gold . See if you agree that this is one of the loveliest eyeliners ever!


Here are are a few of my other favourite reads from the week:

Best Things in Beauty shows us the new Chantecaille Cheek Cremes, something tells me they will have the most amazing texture.

The Non-Blonde has rekindled my interest in the Tom Ford collection with pretty swatches of Love Lust Cheek Color. 

If you're interested in the Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Lipstick you need to check Drivol about the Frivol's amazing swatches. 

I know I shouldn't be looking at eyeshadows but a girl has to keep abreast of current news. Planet Martha shares her thoughts on the Chanel Sable Emouvant Duo.

Makeup Magpie has been talking about NARS Summer 2012 this week. It's not a collection that particularly grabbed me but Makeup Magpie's eye look using the Ramtuelle trio and Calabria pencil is stunning.

The Beauty Look Book gives us a first look at the Burberry Iconic Nudes Collection. I think one of the new Lip Mists is likely to be my first venture into Burberry Cosmetics.

The next few weeks are going to involve a lot of early starts and Get Lippie has been inspiring me with how to look groomed quickly with her Five Minute Face Favourites.

Strictly speaking this isn't a post from this week but I thought we needed one more look at those TF Cream Colours for Eyes. Miss Chew took some very tempting pictures and made me long for my buying ban to be over!

Guest Reviewing on A Model Recommends

Today I am very honoured to be guesting for Ruth on A Model Recommends. The subject of the post is a review of the Perricone MD Radiant Skin Collection pictured above, and includes my thoughts on the (rather marvellous) Advanced Face Firming Activator. I'd love it if you went along for a read, although you might want to put the kettle on first, it is a bit of an epic!

For anyone interested in the product ingredients you can click on the image below to enlarge.